Details:
Summary:
The majority of Swedish offset printers use color management in order to control color reproduction in their daily production. However, there is a lack of understanding of how well the profiles support agreement among color units. Several parameters in the construction and use of a profile affect the final color result. Print production using ICC-profiles demands a better teamwork in the process. The use of non-dedicated printer profiles may cause a less than optimal end-result. Pedagogic color tools can help the user to understand how well a specific profile defines the color gamut of a digital/analogue printing press.
This paper presents an approach to visualizing how well printer profile parameters are defined in the construction of the ICC-profile. The application Adobe Photoshop (r) has been used for profile evaluation because of its widespread use in the graphic arts field. Adigital test form has been produced consisting of color test targets and images. This digital test form gives information about: affect of using different color gamuts, total ink coverage, the level of achromatic reproduction, effect on different tones, comparison between different print profiles and the ISO standard, and comparison between different print profiles concerning different variable settings.
This digital test form for ICC-profiles has been evaluated by three independent graphic arts consultants who work with the implementation of ICC-based production. The result of this evaluation is a recommendation for the printers to use this digital test form to increase awareness of the influence of ICC-profiles on the print.